Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat Game Review and Giveaway

---Contest Ended--- The Winner was #14, Coupon Person, for their comment about following Wonderforge on Facebook.  They said they would hide "lincoln logs, duplo blocks, trios, cars, and a tinkerbell" inside the hat.  Have fun playing the game! Thanks to Wonder Forge for giving it away. They'll send the game to Coupon Person.

Our family has played several of the Dr. Seuss games by Wonder Forge geared for preschool and grade school ages. We just tried “What’s in the Cat’s Hat” this month and my kids have had a blast finding things around our house to hide inside the hat.

The hat is about 12 inches tall. We hide small toys, crayons, silverwear and more inside.

When I first saw this game on the shelf at ToysRus I thought it was just like our mystery bag we used in preschool. We had a simple drawstring bag the kids would hide a secret item. Then we played twenty questions and sometimes it would take forever for the kids to guess what was inside.

What’s in the Cat’s Hat game really gets the kids more involved and prompts them to ask more helpful questions by using a deck of question cards.  It has a specially designed hat, with a flap on top, to hide objects from view and other secret flaps toward the bottom used for special purposes in the game (peeking, smelling and feeling).

I really loved the combination of using the unique question cards (Does it have a face? Would it float in a bathtub?) along with the action cards (smell it, feel the hat with your elbows). This stepped the mystery bag game up to a whole new level, plus it is Dr. Seuss themed and the kids are drawn to that. Who wouldn’t want to guess what is in the Cat’s hat?

GAME GIVEAWAY:
Wonder Forge will send a copy of this game to one lucky reader. Just in time for Christmas! This would be a fun gift under the tree.
Official entry:  To enter this giveaway please leave a comment below telling me what you would hide in the hat.
This giveaway runs Nov. 17 – Nov. 27. A winner will be randomly chosen at midnight MST on Nov. 27, 2011. If you do not have an email linked to your comment account, please leave your email address in your comment. Open to valid U.S. addresses only.
For extra entries, pick any of the following to do and leave a separate comment for each one below:

• Follow ObSEUSSed on Google Friend Connect found in the right column.
• Follow ObSEUSSed on Facebook
• Follow ObSEUSSed on Twitter
• Follow Wonder Forge on Twitter
• Follow Wonder Forge on Facebook

 
See more about the Dr. Seuss What's in the Cat's Hat? Game part of a series of ‘I Can Do That” Dr. Seuss games by the Wonder Forge.
Here are some of the other Dr. Seuss games we’ve owned for a few years now that the kids love to play:

• Horton Hears a Who - You to the Rescue
• Green Eggs and Ham Speedy Diner Game,
• Dr. Seuss Super Stretchy ABC's
• Oh The Places You'll Go Board Game
• and our favorite, Cat in the Hat I Can Do That! Game

“Cat in the Hat, I Can Do That!” game.  We’ve had ours a few years and the original “Trick-a-ma-stick” was very tricky to set up and fell over easily.  Wonder Forge has amazing customer service. See how they responded when they saw the negative reviews about the stick on Amazon. If you have this game and want the new-improved stick, click here to find out how to get a free replacement.  They sent us a replacement  and the kids easily set it up.

My son loves skipping around the trick-a-ma-stick with the Seuss toy man in his shirt. In this game they pick an action card, an item card and a how-to hold item card. Below my daughter has to crawl under the trick-a-ma-stick with the Dr. Seuss cake on her back.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the 'What's in the Cat's Hat' game from Wonder Forge for review. All opinions and experiences are my own.

GIVEAWAY: Remember to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of "What's in the Cat's Hat." (See rules above)

Thanks for visiting ObSEUSSed!
 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Celebration Ideas and Linky Party

Happy 107th Birthday Dr. Seuss!

'Today is your birthday! Today you are you!

If we didn't have birthdays, you wouldn't be you.

If you'd never been born, well then what would you do?"

I can't imagine a world without Dr. Seuss. He helped us discover a whimsical world that will live on forever in his books and our imaginations.


We've already been celebrating but March 2nd is Dr. Seuss' official birthday so I've got a great round-up of Dr. Seuss ideas.

First: Make sure you pull out a few Dr. Seuss books to read to your children.



Here are a few of my Favorite Seuss Celebrations:

Check out this Topsy Turvy Dr. Seuss Cake and Party.

Start your day with a Seussalicious Breakfast at Make Myself at Home
Don't these Cat in the Hat Pancakes and Green Eggs and Ham Omlette look SEUSSalicious?

Then make this Seuss inspired lunch from How Does She (Pink Ink Drink, Greed Eggs, Strawberry and fruit dip hat + more.)

Next, make these Green Eggs and Ham snacks from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Print out these Cupcake Toppers from Moo Moo's Tutus.

You can print this Dr. Seuss themed packet from What the Teacher Wants!

Try making and playing with Dr. Seuss Multi-Activity Blocks at Sugar Bee- Craft Edition.

And remember to take a moment to Hop on Pop right here at ObSEUSSed.

Then pull out your goldfish crackers for a game of 1 Fish 2 Fish when you print these placemats at ObSEUSSed.

SEUSS CELEBRATION IDEAS

Now take a look at more Seusstastic Links or add your Dr. Seuss project to the list. Remember, only family-friendly and non-commercial links. This list will become a permanent collection on my 1st page tab at the top of my blog. I'll be leaving it open for the next year so anytime you want to come back and look or link-up you'll see new ideas. Share this button on your website or blog to let more people see these fantastic ideas.

<a href="http://www.obseussed.com/p/books.html"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5472586487_b4ce63ea9a.jpg" alt="obSEUSSedLinkCollection" width="125" height="125"/></a>

Start Celebrating!

Instructions to add your link:
Put the link to your specific post, not your home page.
For the Name Field, put the TITLE of your project

PBS Kids Celebrates with Cat in the Hat Show Marathon

PBS Kids is celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday, Wednesday March 2, with a special 2 hour long marathon of The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, featuring two new episodes. (Visit PBS to find your local PBS TV station and times.)

PBS Kids has been our “go to” TV channel for years (we are lucky to have 2 PBS stations in Utah). I’ve always loved the safe and educational programs for kids. This past year made me tune in to PBS even more. They started showing The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, a Dr. Seuss inspired cartoon that uses rhyming to teach science in a child-friendly format.  We love to sing along with the Cat in the Hat as he he hops in the Thing-a-ma-jigger to “Go, Go, Go, Go, on an adventure.”  Martin Short is the voice of the Cat and does a splendiferous job.  If you have PBS, make sure to check this show out during the day with your kids. Episodes are also available on DVD now.

PBS has a great Dr. Seuss Birthday page with ideas and printables to celebrate the  day.

PBS Kids already has a variety of Cat in the Hat online videos, games, printables and activities to tie into the show, but this week they are introducing two new games. The Great Nocturnal Hat Hunt and Such Great Heights.

Dr. Seuss Crafts and Teacher Supplies at Lakeshore Learning

We stopped by Lakeshore Learning Store this past weekend for their Dr. Seuss Birthday celebration. This is my favorite store to grab teaching supplies.  They have a special “Teachers Club” card for discounts and the great thing is anyone who teaches children can get a card – even moms. 

I picked up a few more Dr. Seuss, ABC board books to give as baby shower gifts. I also grabbed some Dr. Seuss wall posters featuring phonics for our reading area at home. The store had Dr. Seuss bulletin board decorations, reward sticker charts, more posters, and more books.

 

  Dr. Seuss Crafts

They had several stations set up for the kids to rotate around. Our kids liked making bow ties out of a piece of felt. They scrunched it up, wrapped a pipe cleaner around the middle, then attached yarn to make it into a necklace.

 

 

 Two more craft stations included making whimsical hats and a small story book out of construction paper.

Dr. Seuss Games

 

Then they had a game station run by The Cat in the Hat. He played “Cat Says” (like Mother-May-I game) and a bean bag toss into Cat in the Hat buckets and a balancing ball game.

Story time with ‘Ten Apples Up on Top.’

This was a fun event to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday this week.

Try making your own Dr. Seuss crafts at home.

Check out the page tabs above for more ideas.

Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Sequence Game

"We're off to see the Wizard."

Grandma invited our kids to go see the Wizard of Oz theater production this past month. I've tried to get my 7-year-old to watch the movie several times but the first time she tried watching it a few years ago she got too scared of the witch, never finished watching, and subsequently refuses to watch it anytime I offer.  At first she did not want to go to the theater with Grandma either thinking it would be too scary. 

I decided to pull out some books to explain the story so she would be familiar with it before hand.
We bought this 3-D book before we even had children. We pulled it out and did an overview of the story as the kids searched for the characters and put on a play on the little pop-out stage. You turn the pages for different backdrops.

My son loved it and my daughter finally understood the story and was relieved to find out the witch melted at the end.

Reading and playing with this book helped her overcome her fear of the Wizard of Oz.

We also pulled up some stage productions of the show on YouTube that let her get a feel for what to expect at the theatre. I'm happy to report that both our kids went to the show, enjoyed it (daughter admitted closing her eyes several times which I told her was totally fine) and they have been whistling and humming the songs ever since.

The Wizard of Oz story is by L. Frank Baum. This 3-D Playset is illustrated by Phil Wilson.

Try this Sequencing Activity to create your own Yellow Brick Road:

1. Get a few pieces of yellow construction paper.
2. Find some pictures of the characters from the Wizard of Oz. I found some great coloring pages from the movie on the Educational Coloring Pages site. And some simple line drawings with a witch and tornado on DLTK's site. Nick-Magic has some great story pictures. I like this pic of the Emerald City and rainbow. Some great pics of the witch and munchkins.

3. Print and color the pics you like, then glue onto a 1/2 sheet or full sheet of construction paper.

4. Have your child place them in a row (in sequential order) across the room or down the hallway, creating a path (or yellow brick road).  Then let your child step on each one and tell you a little bit about the story as they remember it.

Our kids also like this book with sound buttons from the Play-a-sound series. I have to admit the witch and wizard sounds freaked me out everyonce in a while when the kids have left it on the floor and something sets it off accidentally. 

Here is a fabulous pop-up version illustrated by Robert Sabuda.

I found an amazing compilation and review on more pop-up books over at Squidoo this week. I love the Alice and Wonderland and Star Wars versions.
Linking to:

Have any of you ever use books to help children reduce their fear of something?

Personalized Guess Who Game - Family Style

My sister and I love to play the board game Guess Who when we get together. Yes, I know. I'm in my 30's and she is in her mid 20's and we still play kid board games. A few years ago I got the idea to customize our game with the faces of our extended family.  It turned out great and makes the game even better.  Just think of the possibilities.  You could ask "Does your person have a bald head?" - which could describe grandpa or the new baby in the family. 

HOW TO DO IT: 

Step 1- FIND PICS

Pick 24 favorite family members or friends. Find head shots of them or crop your favorite pics into a head shot. I copied and pasted pics into a word file and resized them to fit the holders in the game (this made printing on one page easier). The size of the holders depends if it is a newer or older version or travel size. 

Step 2 - PRINT & CUT

Once they were all the right size I printed that page onto white card stock and cut them out.  You could use a nice scrapbook paper so the back will have a pretty design while you print the pics on the white side.  Print three sets, one for the draw-card pile and a set for each player's board. 

Step 3 - REPLACE

Replace all the cartoon face cards with your family faces. The holders are a little tricky to work but the older version seems to be more sturdy. Place one set of cards in the draw pile and you're ready to play.

Step 4 - PLAY

Use standard questions or more personalized questions. "Does your person play the banjo?" or "Does your person like to ride bikes?"

GET GEUSS WHO:

The game can still be purchased at most game retailers. Click here.

I found 3 more copies of the game (1 large & 2 travel size) at a thrift shop (a great place to find board games). I also plan to convert them into family games to give as custom gifts (I gave this copy to my sister).  These game pics are 5 years old and I've had 2 kids since I made this it so I need to make a new game to keep at my house.

See another Guess Who Personalized example with closer pics At Second Street. Scroll to middle of post.

Another great example at The Madsen Times blog

This project is linked to the Tatertots & Jello blog weekend wrapup party. Take a look at what other bloggers are creating by clicking the button below:

I'm just getting rolling in the blog world and would love more followers and linky love. Feel free to pass my hat around (grab my button on the side column) Thanks!